#max hollein

Brendan McCann’s science-inspired dress for this year’s Met Gala!

Every first Monday in May since 1948, society’s cultural haut monde gathers under the guise of fundraising for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute to compete for the most fashionable, and increasingly most outlandish, outfit in the Met Gala.

Brendan McCann’s (an artist and art teacher based in New York) handmade dress honors the real celebrities of our era: the scientists and medical experts who created safe and effective coronavirus vaccines in record time.

His dress features a flared skirt of paper vaccination cards and an asymmetrical corset composed of jeweled Band-Aids. The ensemble comes together with a towering needle headpiece and a plastic “FAUCI” clutch filled with donuts freely provided by Krispy Kreme to anyone who is vaccinated. Purple latex gloves complete the look.

“The vaccination couture is made out of a table cover, poster board, craft foam, and other materials I had lying around my apartment, and some things from the dollar store,” McCann said to Hyperallergic.

“One day I hope I can attend the actual Gala,” he added. “It would be a dream come true. Even if they just want me to vacuum the steps … I’m available!” (Hey Max Hollein, we hope you’re listening!)

Photo by Josh Levinson / @JKLPhoto, courtesy of Brendan McCann,

by Valentina Di Liscia for Hyperallergic